>> reporter: let's begin with president obama returning from a campaign stop in florida this morning to washington, d.c. to oversee the response of the storm. the rain is moderate, the winds are moderate, this is a warm up for washington, d.c. by dinnertime 60-mile per hour gusts and torrential downpours. let me give you a live look at atlantic city, new jersey. the epicenter, is expected to go through southern new jersey, through atlantic city later today. for that reason, the wind gusts are going to hit new jersey, maryland, and virginia and dc. the u.s. government closed, congress shut down, the white house, as the president gears for response. here's what he said last evening. >> at this stage, everybody is confident that the staging process, the prepositioning of resources, commodities, equipment that will be needed to respond to the storm are in place. >> reporter: power crews from across the country called in to respond to what is expected to be millions of power outages across the mid-atlantic and the northeast. here in dc, mass transportation, subways, trains shut down. the